"Fan-ge, you're insane!" JackeyLove completely shook off the gloom from game two. He stood up from his seat with a big smile and gave Lin Fan a firm hug. This match felt amazing—he'd been outputting nonstop the entire game, firing shot after shot without pause. That kind of joy—pure bliss.
Tian shook his pot-lid hairstyle and instantly looked far more energized. Even the way he looked at Lin Fan had changed.
Last game, mid and jungle had been tied together. Mid got blown up, and his jungle had been miserable as well—constantly harassed by Kanavi, losing camps everywhere. By the end of the game, he'd been down over a hundred CS.
"That shit-hand Knight… everyone calls him Golden Left Hand and he actually believes it. Who knew Lin Fan would be this fierce?"
Zoom didn't really join in much. He'd just joined the team—during matches, he simply followed the calls.
Still, he was surprised too. After game two, he'd thought they were going to get flamed hard today.
After all, the top laners had been swapped—whoever lost would be the one embarrassed.
He'd even felt like he was about to become a joke.
But who could've expected that Lin Fan, once again subbing in, would save TES—once more keeping their playoff hopes alive.
"No, no, everyone played well. Look at me—I don't even train. What skill could I have? I was just tagging along, barely did anything, and we still won," Lin Fan said modestly.
"Bullshit," Yu Wenbo snapped. "You held Yagao's LeBlanc steady in lane, and you call that no skill? Right, Zoom?"
"Yeah. I've been teammates with Yagao before—his LeBlanc is terrifying! Fan-ge is really cracked."
"Viktor into LeBlanc is already hard enough, plus a Xin Zhao. I was thinking you'd die seven or eight times. Never expected you wouldn't die once—and even went godlike," Mark added.
Without realizing it, Lin Fan had gained serious weight in everyone's eyes.
If Luo Sheng asked the team to vote on who should start next match, there was no doubt—everyone would unanimously vote Lin Fan.
"Shake hands, shake hands. Let's hurry back and relax a bit," JackeyLove said.
"What kind of 'relax' are we talking about? If it's not wholesome, that won't do."
Amid laughter and chatter, the entire TES squad walked toward JDG's side to shake hands.
—
When Zoom shook hands with 369, the grin on his face was impossible to hide. Even someone terrible at reading expressions could tell how happy Zoom was.
369, on the other hand, was extremely dejected. He knew he was definitely trending again today.
Karsa's desk-slam had already labeled him the worst top laner. He'd thought winning this match against TES would be his chance to prove himself—only for that dream to be shattered by the suddenly-subbed-in Dine.
"Isn't Zoom's expression a bit too much?"
"Of course. The top laners were swapped—whoever lost would be embarrassed. Honestly, Zoom had already been embarrassed enough given TES's record compared to JDG. But winning this match? Then I can only say they didn't lose."
"Putting everything else aside, JackeyLove's smile after winning is so healing."
"Gross. Shoo, water-ghost sisters."
"369 looks like he's being roasted alive."
"Honestly, 369's performance today wasn't bad. I just don't get why he didn't keep picking Gragas. Feels like if he'd picked Gragas in game three, he'd have had more impact than Sion."
"No one paying attention to Rise of Kingdoms Bro? He went godlike again! Two godlikes in three games! If nothing goes wrong, this is another MVP—three MVPs in a row. I'm starting to wonder if he's secretly training."
"This match was way too insane. Combined with his earlier games, if he keeps this up, I'd rank him top three out of the seventeen mid laners."
The chat was a complete mess, everyone saying whatever they wanted.
—
On the stage, both teams went down the line shaking hands.
Yagao already knew the game was over the moment his LeBlanc got instantly melted. His mentality adjusted quickly, though he still couldn't force a smile during the handshake. He even gave Zoom a hug.
Probably because of their similar builds, the two had the best relationship on JDG.
Then came Tian, and finally Lin Fan.
Yagao straightened up when he saw Lin Fan and spoke seriously.
"You really gave me a scare today. I never thought you'd be this strong. There's no chance to play you again in the regular season—see you in playoffs."
"Sure. Then let's meet in playoffs," Lin Fan narrowed his eyes slightly.
Because S12 ended with a Worlds loss, Lin Fan still remembered the four mid laners who made it to the finals very clearly.
In terms of performance, Yagao far surpassed the other three.
He fully deserved the words "did his best." By most standards, Yagao had the lowest ceiling, yet his performance was the best among the four.
Especially that Taliyah game!
It was just a pity that the opponents were too strong—he could only claw back one game.
Scout had been shaky in groups, found some form in knockouts, but in the final game tried too hard to prove himself and made mistakes—at least he dared to fight.
As for the remaining two, setting aside their messy private lives, four words summed them up well: hard to evaluate.
So Lin Fan warmly hugged Yagao.
"I beat you this time. I'll beat you again next time."
"Hahaha, I don't think so."
"But you lost this time."
"That doesn't affect next time."
"But you lost this time."
"…"
Conversation over—completely dead.
Both teams returned to their sides, packed up their gear, and headed toward the player tunnel.
At the same time, all three casters cast their votes for Lin Fan.
So did everyone else.
Six votes, unanimous—undisputed MVP of the match.
As the casters announced the votes, the big screen revealed the MVP.
TES - Dine!
Viktor with a godlike performance, Lin Fan's photo displayed beside it.
This time, the female fans actually took a closer look.
Clean-cut, good-looking—pretty handsome, actually.
Damn, how did we not notice before? Only today did we realize Rise of Kingdoms Bro is kind of good-looking.
Compared to those guys who sit at computers all day, greasy skin, unwashed hair, rocking pot-lid hairstyles—the difference was immediately obvious.
Who's Knight? Never heard of him.
Switch Rise of Kingdoms Bro to mid—not only does he play well, he's handsome too. Fan'd, fan'd.
TL: Fan'd, as in I'm now a fan.
Even the coaches—this is the TES double carry we wanted.
If Rise of Kingdoms Bro had started from the beginning, this would've been a clean 2–0. No need to suffer all that stress.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup